The bench scenes — Forrest waiting for a bus that takes most of the film to arrive, telling his life story to whoever sits down next to him — were filmed in Chippewa Square in Savannah, Georgia. The square is real, the oaks and the Spanish moss are real, and it is a five-minute walk from anywhere in the historic district.
The bench is not there. It never permanently was. It was a fibreglass prop built for the production, placed on the north end of the square for filming and removed afterwards, and there was never a bus stop on that corner. If you go looking for the exact spot expecting to sit down, that is the thing to know first.
Savannah's squares, and why this one
Savannah was laid out from 1733 on James Oglethorpe's grid of wards, each built around a public square. Twenty-two of the original squares survive, planted with live oaks and enclosed by townhouses, churches and civic buildings — an urban plan that has been more or less continuously admired for three centuries and is the reason the city's historic district is a National Historic Landmark.
Chippewa Square is one of the larger ones, named for a battle of the War of 1812. At its centre stands a nine-foot bronze of General Oglethorpe in the full dress of a British officer, dedicated in 1910 — sculpted by Daniel Chester French, who would later carve the seated Lincoln in Washington, on a pedestal by Henry Bacon, the architect of the Lincoln Memorial itself. Zemeckis needed a spot where a man could sit for a long time in a beautiful place without it looking like a set, and where a bus could plausibly stop.
The bench was positioned at the northern edge of the square, on the Bull Street side near the corner with West Hull Street, looking in across the oaks. The feather that opens and closes the film drifts down over the Independent Presbyterian Church steeple a block away.
Where the bench actually is
After filming, the prop bench went into storage and eventually into the collection of the Savannah History Museum, part of the Coastal Heritage Society, at 303 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard. It is on display there and it is the actual object from the film.
This is a better outcome than it sounds. A fibreglass film prop left outdoors in the Georgia climate for thirty years would not have survived, and a replica in the square would have drawn permanent crowds into a public park that residents use. Savannah made the sensible choice, and the square is still a square.
The rest of the film, mostly not in Savannah
Forrest Gump ranges across a lot of America and shot in a lot of it. Greenbow, Alabama — Forrest's home town — was largely filmed in and around Varnville, South Carolina, roughly two hours from Savannah. The running sequence took in Monument Valley on the Utah–Arizona border, which supplies the shot where he finally stops.
The Vietnam sequences were shot in South Carolina, on Fripp Island and in the low country, standing in for south-east Asia. The shrimp boat scenes used the waters around Beaufort, South Carolina.
Savannah's contribution is essentially the frame: the square, the bench, the bus stop and the feather. It is a small part of the running time and the single most visited location by a wide margin.
Visiting the location
- Where
- Chippewa Square, Bull Street between West Hull and West Perry Streets, Savannah, Georgia. The bench is at the Savannah History Museum, 303 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.
- Getting there
- Central to Savannah's historic district and walkable from almost anywhere in it. Savannah/Hilton Head airport is about 20 minutes by car.
- Access
- The square is a free public park, open at all times. The Savannah History Museum charges admission and has its own opening hours.
- The filming spot is the north-west corner, by Bull and West Hull — not the middle of the square where the statue is.
- Go to the museum if seeing the actual bench matters to you. There is nothing to sit on in the square.
- The Independent Presbyterian Church a block north is the steeple the feather falls past.
- Savannah is hot and humid from June to September; the squares are shaded, which is exactly why they were designed that way.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Forrest Gump bench still in Chippewa Square?
No. It was a fibreglass prop made for the film and removed after shooting. It is now on display in the Savannah History Museum.
Where exactly was the bench placed?
At the northern edge of Chippewa Square, near the corner of Bull Street and West Hull Street, facing in across the square.
Was there ever a bus stop in Chippewa Square?
No. The bus stop was created for the film; no route stopped there.
Where was Greenbow, Alabama filmed?
Mostly around Varnville, South Carolina, along with other low-country locations. Greenbow is fictional and none of it is in Alabama.